With all the questions surrounding the Edmonton Eskimos over the off-season, one thing is certain: Steven Jyles will not be making starting quarterback money next year.

Not for them, anyway.

Barely two weeks after signing a three-year contract extension with with the Toronto Argonauts that would see him make up to $250,000 in 2012, according to a TSN report, Jyles came west in the Ricky Ray trade and assumed the role as the Eskimos No. 1 quarterback, only to limp across the finish line as the No. 3.

"It's tough. It was a tough season for myself," Jyles said. "There was a lot of improvement for myself, but I had to learn a lot with this offence, then I sustained injuries that kept me from playing at 100%.

"Right now, I'm just looking forward to a great off-season and I will take full advantage of this off-season to get in the best shape that I can get in and come back ready to battle next year."

Although the Eskimos got off to a 5-3 start under Jyles, much of that early success has to be attributed to a healthy defence that put the ball back in his hands as well as points on the board, themselves, off a few momentum-swinging takeaways.

But injuries began mounting among Edmonton's defensive starters that made it more and more obvious the offence wasn't holding up its end of the bargain.

And a big sign pointing to why was Jyles's pass-efficiency rating, which was seventh out of the eight teams' top passers at the time, ahead of only Buck Pierce's hapless backups in Winnipeg.

By Labour Day, the coaching staff had seen enough and announced Kerry Joseph would start in the annual Classic.

The official word was Jyles was sitting out because of an injury, but the specifics varied depending on whom you asked. The coaches called it a knee, one receiver thought it was illness and Jyles, himself, described it as a calf injury.

Regardless, Jyles found himself out because he was hurt. But he remained out because of the fact that more often than not, his presence on the field was hurting his team.

While Jyles can be blamed for certain games and certain plays, lumping all the Eskimos's troubles on him wouldn't be fair. After all, he didn't ask to be traded or to take over for the Eskimos long-time franchise QB. Or to be thrust into the spotlight that came with pressure of its own.

"The trade thing wasn't a big bother for me," Jyles said. "I think the pressure was more from learning the offence and being able to lead the guys and execute the offence at a high level.

"I think that was more pressure than the trade or coming to a new team."

He's a bit of an expert in that department, with Edmonton marking his first and last stop on a list of four different cities and five moves so far over his seven-year career.

Whether he will need to make a sixth or not remains to be seen, especially given the Eskimos are without a general manager for the time being.

"I don't know, that's nothing I can control," he said. "I just signed a contract last year with Toronto, so (Edmonton) has me for another year and then an option, so I don't know what's going to take place with me.

"All I can do is as soon as I get home, from Day 1, just start preparing for the next year, regardless if I'm back Ñ which I hope I'm back next year to have a second shot at it Ñ or if I'm somewhere else or whatever. All I can do is control what I can control."